Difference: AppxHTMLClient543 (10 vs. 11)

Revision 112016-03-10 - JeanNeron

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APPX HTML Client 5.4.3/5.4.4

This page gives installation instructions and an overview of the Appx HTML client.

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Overview

The Appx HTML client is designed to allow you to connect to an Appx server and run Appx applications using a browser, either on the desktop, a tablet or a smartphone. When running the client in a browser, no software is required on the desktop, tablet or smart phone. When the user logs on, the necessary code is downloaded to their device as required.

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  The Appx HTML client consists of two modules:
  • Web Server Files (webhost.zip). These are the javascript libraries and style sheets that make up the HTML client. This also contains the Local Connector for Windows, Mac and Linux clients. These must be installed in your web server's document directory.
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  • APPX Server connector (serverConnector.zip). This is a javascript library that connects the client running in your browser to the actual Appx engine. In releases prior to 5.4.4 the Appx Server Connector is platform specific, you will need the one that matches the O/S under which your web server is running. After Release 5.4.4 it is platform independant.
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  • APPX Server connector (serverConnector.zip). This is a javascript library that connects the client running in your browser to the actual Appx engine. In releases prior to 5.4.4 the Appx Server Connector is platform specific, you will need the one that matches the O/S under which your server is running. After Release 5.4.4 it is platform independant.
 Note that Appx does not have to be running on the same server as your web server, and the APPX Server Connector does not have be on the same server as either Appx or your web server. This gives you maximum flexibility in configuring your installation.

Once the HTML client is working, you can connect to any Appx 5.4+ server, just as you can with the Appx Desktop Client. Due to the engine changes that were made in 5.4 to support the HTML client, you cannot connect to an earlier Appx engine.

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>		 Prerequisites

The server that will run the APPX Server Connector requires 'nodejs' (https://nodejs.org/). In Release 5.4.4 and higher you also need the Mongo Database (https://www.mongodb.org/). See below for details on installing these packages.

 

Local Connector

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<		Because of the tighter security in web browsers, it is not possible for HTML 5/javascript to seamlessly upload, download or open files on the users desktop the way it can be done with the Appx Desktop Client. To address this, the HTML client includes a small 'helper' program that supports this. This is called the 'LocalConnector'. By default, the HTML client will check to see if the local connector program is running when the user logs in. If it is not running, it will offer to install it, and if the user cancels they will be nagged the next time they log in.
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>		Because of the tighter security in web browsers, it is not possible for HTML 5/javascript to seamlessly upload, download or open files unassisted on the users desktop the way it can be done with the Appx Desktop Client. To address this, the HTML client includes a small 'helper' program that supports this. This is called the 'LocalConnector'. By default, the HTML client will check to see if the local connector program is running when the user logs in. If it is not running, it will offer to install it, and if the user cancels they will be nagged the next time they log in.
  If your application does not require the ability to upload/download/open files on the desktop, you can turn this off (see Installation below).
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 The HTML client has a different presentation for most non-Appx elements such as Date Choosers, File Upload/download dialog boxes, Tables, etc. The goal of the HTML client was to replicate the presentation of your screens as accurately as possible as far as the Appx elements are concerned (i.e., the widgets and fields you use in the Image Editor). Since we use different 3rd party tools and runtimes for other elements, they will look different compared to the Appx Desktop Client.

Requirements

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<		You will need a web server, either Linux or Windows based. If you are going to use the Apache web server and you want to use a forwarding proxy, it must be version 2.4 or higher. We have tested IIS on Win 7 with success, earlier versions of IIS have not been tested. You must also install the 'nodejs' package on the server running the AppxConnector.
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>		You will need a web server, either Linux or Windows based. If you are going to use the Apache web server and you want to use a forwarding proxy, it must be version 2.4 or higher. We have tested IIS on Win 7 with success, earlier versions of IIS have not been tested.
  The web server does not have to be on the same server as Appx.
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  Change HOSTNAME to the name or IP address of the server running the Appx Server Connector. Do not use localhost.
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Installation - Server Connector Component

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Installation - APPX Server Connector Component

 
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<		The Server Connector is the software that connects the HTML clients and the APPX server. This can be installed on the same server as the web server, or the APPX Server, or a completely different machine. If you are not using tunnneling via the web server, then port 3014 (the default port) needs to be open between the server connector machine and your HTML clients.
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>		The APPX Server Connector is the software that connects the HTML clients and the APPX server. This can be installed on the same server as the web server, or the APPX Server, or a completely different machine. If you are not using tunnneling via the web server, then port 3014 (the default port) needs to be open between the server connector machine and your HTML clients.
 

Prerequisites

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<		All releases of the Server Connector require the 'nodejs' package from https://nodejs.org/ if it is not already installed on your server. For rpm based Linux systems, you can install it via (as root):
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>		All releases of the APPX Server Connector require the 'nodejs' package from https://nodejs.org/ if it is not already installed on your server. For rpm based Linux systems, you can install it via (as root):
  curl --silent --location https://rpm.nodesource.com/setup | bash -yum install nodejs


To install on Windows, go to https://nodejs.org and download the Windows installer (msi) file and simply run the installer.

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<		As of Release 5.4.4 the Server Connector also requires the MongoDB Database for caching images and other items. The software can be downloaded from https://www.mongodb.org/downloads. You must also configure the server, following the instructions at https://docs.mongodb.org/manual/tutorial/install-mongodb-on-windows/.
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>		As of Release 5.4.4 the APPX Server Connector also requires the MongoDB Database for caching images and other items. Instructions for downloading and configuring the database can be found at https://docs.mongodb.org/manual/tutorial/

Installation

  1) Extract the Appx Server Connector to a location of your choice. A folder in the /opt directory would be a good choice on a Linux server. Once the software is extracted, run the appxConnector-install.js script. This should be run as 'root' on Linux/Unix systems, and as an Administrator on Windows systems. This will check your system for the required modules. To run the script, open a terminal or DOS window and navigate to the folder where you installed the Appx Server Connector, then invoke the script via 'node':
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 http://192.168.0.15/appx/client.html

You must open port 3014 on your web server for this connection to work. If you do not want to open any new ports on your web server, see the section on 'Tunneling/Forwarding'.

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LocalConnector

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LocalConnector

 
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<		As mentioned above, you can suppress the requirement for the LocalConnector by changing the following line in "client.html":
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>		As mentioned above, you can suppress the requirement for the LocalConnector by changing the following line in "client.html":
  <meta name="appx-local-required" content="true" >

Change the "true" to "false" to supress the requirement.

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LocalConnector Installation

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LocalConnector Installation

 
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<		If you do not turn off the LocalConnector requirement as above, then when the 'client.html' page is loaded it will check to see if the local connector is running on the users desktop. If not, they will get a dialog box offering to download the local connector. The actual installation of the local connector varies by the O/S on the user's desktop:
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>		If you do not turn off the LocalConnector requirement as above, then when the 'client.html' page is loaded it will check to see if the local connector is running on the users desktop. If not, they will get a dialog box offering to download the local connector. The actual installation of the local connector varies by the O/S on the user's desktop:
 
  • Windows: Once the download is complete, run the installer. The local connector will be installed, started and Windows will be configured to automatically start on a reboot. No further action is required.
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  • Mac O/S: Once the download is complete, open the disk image and double click the installer. The local connector will be installed and started. The local connector will have to manually started after each login by opening a terminal window and entering the command "cd AppxLocalConnector;open node-webkit.app". Alternatively, the user can add 'node-webkit.app' in their AppxLocalConnector folder to their Login Items in System Preferences.
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  • Mac O/S: Once the download is complete, open the disk image and double click the installer. The local connector will be installed and started. The local connector will have to manually started after each login by opening a terminal window and entering the command "cd AppxLocalConnector;open node-webkit.app". Alternatively, the user can add 'node-webkit.app' in their AppxLocalConnector folder to their Login Items in System Preferences.
 
  • Linux: Once the download is complete, open a terminal window and enter:
    • cd Downloads (or wherever the file was saved to)
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    • sh localConnector_linux32.sh or sh localConnector_linux64.sh, depending on whether you have 32 or 64 bit Linux. The connector will be installed.
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    • sh LocalConnector _linux32.sh or sh LocalConnector _linux64.sh, depending on whether you have 32 or 64 bit Linux. The connector will be installed.
 
    • Start the connector running by:
      • cd $HOME/AppxLocalConnector
      • sh ./start-nw.sh
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  If you are running a secure web server (https), you can configure the Appx HTML client to use your SSL connection. Your web server must to configured to accept both SSL (https:) and non-SSL (http:) connections.
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<		Change your "client.html" settings as follows:
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>		Change your "client.html" settings as follows (this file is located on your web server):
  appx-proxy-host = hostname of httpd server (i.e., 192.168.1.11)
appx-proxy-port = “443"
appx-proxy-path = /appxwss/
appx-encryption = “ssl”
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<		In 'appxConnector.js' change:
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>		Change your "appxConnector.js" as follows (this file is located on your APPX Server Connector server):
  var sslEnabled = true;
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 Read what other users have said about this page or add your own comments.
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  -- JeanNeron - 2015-12-18
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